One thing reality TV can do that your average programme with a plot line cannot, is create ‘the buzzâ€. The buzz is a wonderful thing to watch, and in the case of Survivor SA, it’s as entertaining as the show itself. The buzz includes events like eviction parties, at that oh-so-classy joint, Monsoon Lagoon, the perfect place to notch up some D-grade celebrity-spotting points. It also includes marginally intelligent advertisements paying homage to the said TV programme. The Nando’s SOS ad is nearly as funny as watching Rana’s Lezel cry crocodile tears after voting off Ncumisa, whom she supposedly trusted above her other teammates. And of course, there are the ubiquitous columns, news clips and magazine spreads with shots of the contestants in their underpants.
Only one thing stood to threaten the buzz surrounding Survivor SA and that was Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial. Lucky for M-Net that threat has gone out of the window.
Zuma is, however, currently unemployed and methinks he could create some serious cash flow by outsourcing himself as a Survivor consultant. Is he not, after all, the ultimate survivor? Any would-be million-dollar winner could learn a great deal from Msholozi.
How to lie and cheat and still emerge from your trials, pun intended, to resounding applause is a skill any contestant should have to make it through the wilds of short-lived celebrity.
If Jakes was really clever he could punt for his own Survivor series; winner gets to run for president of the country. The nation’s thirst for melodrama and his ego could generate a pay cheque for the man — his other sources of cash having dried up. The only thing Zuma might have a problem with is the notable absence of showers on the islands of Panama.
